Hey, this is a sponsored post – I am being paid to provide a review of these three (free) kids’ apps, but I promise to always give you my honest opinion!
So recently I tried out the free versions of these three apps by Kids Academy, and I wanted to share some quick reviews of them.
Kids Puzzle
This is a straightforward game to teach your child about numbers. It has them tracing the number in order to collect fireflies and fill a jar. You can also create a little profile for your child including a picture which is kind of fun.
What I thought: It’s a really cute concept. I thought it would be way too hard for Meredith, and it is still a bit beyond her, but she definitely improved over the last couple weeks of using it. However, I’m not sure if the tracing with her finger on the touch screen will translate to actually writing the numbers.
With the free version, you only get numbers 1 to 3. It costs $3.99 to access all the numbers with an in-app purchase. The parent area is appropriately difficult to access, but when Meredith clicked on it she couldn’t get back to the game which was frustrating for her.
What Meredith thought: To my surprise she kept coming back to it, despite not being very good! She did ask me to do it for her a lot, but that is also how she learns – by observing. As I said, she got better and now she can do the 2 sometimes. :)
Learn to Read & Write
This app has a few different activities. There are easy mazes, mazes to help teach rhyming words, and uppercase letter tracing. A paid in-app purchase gets you access to activities on lowercase letters, vowels, and writing words.
What I thought: The mazes are a cute idea. However, your child has to know what the picture actually is to be successful, and some of the pictures even I didn’t know what they were supposed to be. The letter tracing is pretty straightforward, and again I don’t know if it translates to actual writing. This part was kind of beyond Meredith’s ability at barely 3 years old.
What Meredith thought: This was the most frustrating app for her, so I actually ended up deleting it for now because it would just upset her when she tried it. I think it would be worth retrying in a year or two for sure.
Preschool & Kindergarten Learning
This app has a bunch of different activities within it. It actually includes the numbers tracing to collect fireflies and the letter tracing. Then there is also a game that has an animated scene with pictures of things that start with each letter, and as the child touches them they do cute things and light up. It appears that the paid in-app purchase gets you the rest of the letters & numbers for all games (only three are included for each) along with tracing shapes.
What I thought: This is my favorite for Meredith for now. It has the number tracing, which she likes, and the letters, which are fine for her, and the animated scenes are the most appropriate for her age and I think they are super cute. I am actually tempted to buy this one, but it’s $9.99 so…I probably won’t. :)
What Meredith thought: As I mentioned, she really enjoys the tracing even though she’s not too good at it. And she likes that she can do the scenes on her own. She keeps coming back to this app!
Do you have any toddler apps to recommend?
From Holly:
I think I’ll check out that last one :) We have the Bible for Kids by YouVersion app for Topher – he can listen to Bible stories and when he touches things on the screen they make sounds or move or light up. He loves it!
From Kara:
I really need to find more appropriate apps for Isla to play with on my phone. She’s currently in love with “Talking Tom” and it’s just more annoying than anything, and definitely not educational! I’ll have to check these ones out!